The present invention relates to light emitting diode (LED) technology, and more particularly to a modular LED lighting assembly and method generally used in spas, saunas, or hot tubs.
Manufactured into most spas, saunas, and/or hot tubs (hereinafter commonly referred to as “spa” or “spas”) are a plurality of lights. The number of lights integrated into a spa can vary depending on the purpose of the lights and the size of the spa. Typically, lights are used for both providing illumination for safety concerns and for accentuating the spa to provide an enhanced aesthetic appearance.
Currently, spas are either manufactured with wiring for its lighting system encased within insulation that covers an outer surface of a tub in which an individual sits, or the wiring is run on the outside of the insulation. In either case, the wiring is cut to fit around the given tub dimension. Regardless of how the wire is placed around the tub, the wire is usually inaccessible to a user or manufacturer once installed.
In most circumstances, the light, or light emission device, and wire are permanently affixed to each other wherein if either the wire or light fails individually, both must be replaced. If a light, or light emission device, is detached, such as by cutting it, from a wire connecting it to a power source and/or light source, to simply replace the light emission device, not enough wire is typically available to connect the new light emission device to the existing wire because of the precise cut length of the wire. Furthermore, because of the limited access space provided around a tub, especially when the spa is built into the ground, replacing a defective wire can be expensive and time consuming.
In view of the cost and time that results in having to fix a light not emitting from a spa, manufacturers and spa owners would benefit from a system and device which would minimize the repair time and cost involved.